Modern technical computing challenges drive an insatiable appetite for computing power in the quest to solve the world's most complex scientific, technical, and business-related problems. Despite the trend towards large supercomputing clusters based on industry-standard components, there is currently no one-size-fits-all solution in high-performance computing (HPC) systems. As HPC systems have gotten more powerful, physical constraints and density requirements are driving many aspects of the high-density clustered computer configuration. Different application needs drive requirements for specific computational configurations and interconnect topologies. Different physical environments drive the need for specific deployment solutions in terms of physical footprint, power, and cooling. In addition, as HPC technology is applied to solve new problems, or extended to solve old problems at greater scale, system flexibility has become perhaps as important as overall performance.
Effective supercomputing architectures must simultaneously enable the latest technologies while providing maximum flexibility in terms of interconnect, power, and cooling. Standard power supply configurations, however, are unable to flexibly handle the various scale and density requirements currently demanded in some high-density clusters. For example, blade chassis power supplies are typically tightly integrated and designed to meet the power needs of specific components in the blade chassis. Available chassis power, however, ultimately limits the components and processor technology that can be deployed. For instance, as new generations of processors become available, blades with higher-power processors might not be supportable, forcing chassis or rack-level upgrades. While common, this approach can present several disadvantages and limitations, particularly when systems are deployed redundantly in large HPC deployments.
In addition, power supplies are typically configured in redundant fashion in HPC systems. While necessary to supply high availability, redundancy on an enclosure level can quickly result in substantial numbers of extra power supplies being deployed. However, extraneous power supplies continue to draw some power, even when they are not in active use powering components, wasting energy and generating excess heat. Thus, there is a need for a system that enables the flexibility of configurations and the scalability of power solutions.